Manifolding device



june 23, 1936. J. E. ROHN 2,045,102

MANI'FOLDING DEVICE 4 Filed March 12, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 SOLD TO DOLLARS NO PACKAGES attorney 4 Patented June 23, 1936 '4 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MANIFOLDING DEVICE I John E. norm, Rockville Centre,N. Y., assignor to Autographic Register Company, Hoboken; N. J., a corporation of New Jersey I Application March 12, 1932, Serial No. 598,343

. 1 Claim. .(Cl. 282-1) This invention relates to .manifolding machines, and, as illustrated herein, is applied to an autographic register, although it is equally applicable to typewriting machines of the flat platen type.

In some lines of work it has often been desired to have writing produced on under copies without having it appear on the top or original worksheet or strip, and in order to do this the top worksheet strip was made narrower than the under strips, or it was made as wide and provided with a longitudinal line of weakness along which the portion of the strip having the unwanted information could be removed.

These methods of accomplishing the purpose had inherent disadvantages, among which was the common disadvantage that the main portion of the bill or form was restricted in width, or the under-forms were made oversize, and thus required larger and more cumbersome machines to handle them.

An object of the present invention is to so arrange that writing may be performed on the under strips through the upper strip by means of a stylus or the like, and to this end the present invention provides a guide over the platen, on the margin frame in an autographic register, so that the person making the entries will know where to do so. When this is done, the upper strip may have printed matter appearing in the space which would otherwise be occupied by indicia-receiving spaces on the under strips.

So that the marks of the stylus, or pencil if it is used, will not reach the upper worksheet, there is, according to the present invention, placed under the guide and over the top record strip an impression-transmitting writing surface.

Other features and advantages will hereinafter appear.

In the accompanying drawings- Figure 1 is a top plan view of an autographic register, partly in section, showing a writing guide embodied therein.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the original or top worksheet strip.

Fig. 3 is a view of one of the under strips, of which there may be two or more.

Fig. 4 is a similar view of another worksheet strip, showing the duplicate express receipt and collection coupon which contain the information not wanted on the original or invoice.

Fig. 5 is a plan view of a portion of the platen in a flat platen typewriting machine, showing a writing guide applied thereto.

Fig. 6 shows a top plan view of this invention havinga cloth beneath the writing guide so that the writing may be performed with a lead pencil without marking the original copy.

As shown inthe accompanying drawings, the autographic register has a platen In over which 5- worksheet strips II, I2 and I3 pass and on which they are written upon. Interposed between the worksheet strips are carbon strips I4. At the delivery end of the register there are feeding disks I5=by means of which the strips are advanced 10- until apertures I6 in the strips are entered by the disks, whereupon advancement ceases and the strips are brought into registration.'

The register, as usual, has a marginal frame H which holds the strips to the platen in superposed writing position, leaving an opening I8 7 through which writing is performed.

- The worksheet strips I'I, I2 and I3 are, as usual, printed. and for example together constitute a combined invoice, express receipt,and way 2i) bill. The uppermost or original worksheet I I has the usual heading I9 and space for customers name and address along with a main body 2| ruled and including designated spaces to receive a bill of the goods and for other kinds of information desired. The body 2| is reproduced on both the duplicate strip I2 and the triplicate strip I3. However, above and below the body 2|, the three strips are different. The upper part of the strip I3 is provided with an express receipt form 22 containing designated writing spaces conforming with the customers name and address, etc. like those provided on the strip II so that the writing performed on the strip I I will be reproduced in the proper place on the strip I3.

It is also provided at the right-hand side with a coupon 23 containing a date space, designated space for the number of pieces, weight, C. O. D., return charges, and declared value, which it is not desired to have appear on the original or invoice strip II. The express receipt 22 and coupon 23 are divided from the main portion 2| of the form on the strip I3 by transverse lines of perforations 24 and the express receipt 22 is divided from the coupon 23 by a vertical line of perforations 25. When the form on the strip I3 is severed along the line 24, the portion 2| is used as a packing slip while the portions 22 and 23 are taken by the express company.

The strip I2 is a duplicateof the strip I3 except that the horizontal and vertical lines of perforations 24 and 25 are omitted and it constitutes the shipping record retained by the shipper, being a complete and integral record of the packing slip, the express receipt, and the express receipt coupon which are designated 22a and 23a.

The space on the original strip ll above the coupons 23 and 23a which are on the strips 13 and I2 may be occupied by any desired printing such as an advertisement or notice to the customer.

The delineated spaces on the coupons 23 and 23a are, however, not visible through the original strip I l, and accordingly the user would not know where to make the entries. Since it is not desired to have this information appear on the invoice or original copy, it was heretofore necessary to make the invoice narrower than the original and duplicate express receipts or to provide a vertical line of perforations along which the invoice could be torn to remove the undesired information. This involved not only a waste of paper but also cut down the available space for the bodies 2| of the forms and made it necessary to spend time and effort in removing the part of the invoice strip.

This is avoided by providing the marginal frame I! with a shield 26 having openings 21, 21a, etc., through which the operator may apply a stylus or other small instrument so that the desired information will appear on the strips 12 and I3 and yet not appear on the strip H. As shown, the opening 21 is for the day and month of the year, the opening 21a is for the year, the opening 21b is for the number of pieces; the opening 210 is for the. weight; the number 21d is for the C. O. D., return charges, and the opening He is for the declared value. Of course, the arrangement and number of openings 21, 21a, et cetera, shown herein are only by Way of example, and, while the shield 26 is placed in the upper right-hand corner where itis less likely to interfere with the filling out of the form, it should be understood that it may be located anywhere else desired or convenient, according to the make-up of the forms.

In applying the invention to a typewriter, such as an Elliott-Fisher fiat platen typewriter, the Writing guide or shield 26 may, as shown in Fig. 5, be mounted on the platen wherever desired.

According to the present invention, as shown in Fig. 6, the plate 26 is provided on its underside with a sheet of cloth 28 so that writing may be performed in the openings 21, 21a, et cetera. With this arrangement it is not necessary for the user to lay down the pencil which he uses to fill in the main body of the form and pick up a stylus to write in the openings of the plate 26, and he may use his pencil for making the notations in the openings 21, 21a, et cetera. The cloth 28 may be of a tracing cloth or similar thereto.

Other variations and modifications may be made within the scope of this invention and portions of the improvements may be used without others.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and for which it is desired to obtain Letters Patent, is:-

In a manifolding machine, a platen whereupon worksheet strips with interleaved transfer material are supported for writing operations; a plate supported over the platen having designated writing openings for indicating to the operator the location of invisible designated indiciareceiving spaces on the under strips so that Writing may be performed thereon through the medium of said transfer material with a pencil or the like; and an impression transmitting writing surface directly under and carried by the plate to prevent Writing performed in said designated spaces from appearing on the uppermost strip.

JOHN E. ROI-IN. 

